Paradise Camp at Powerhouse
Image: Installation view of Paradise Camp by Yuki Kihara. Photo by Zan Wimberley
Having received international praise at the 2022 Venice Bienalle, Paradise Camp by Yuki Kihara makes its much anticipated Australian premiere at the Powerhouse Museum this month. The stunning exhibition, curated by Professor Natalie King OAM, includes new works by Kihara informed by access to the Powerhouse collection.
Artwork by Yuki Kihara. Photo by Zan Wimberley
Artwork by Yuki Kihara. Photo by Zan Wimberley
Kihara is of Japanese and Sāmoan descent and this, along with her identity as a Fa’afafine (Sāmoa’s ‘third gender’), is reflected in her artwork. As an artist in residence at the Powerhouse, Kihara has explored the vast collection at her disposal, which includes 2,900 glass plate negatives by 19th Century Australian Photographer Charles Kerry.
Using Kerry’s landscape photographs in combination with the paintings of French artist, Paul Gauguin, Kihara creates beautiful and perceptive collages that comment on colonialism, identity, and gender.
Artwork by Yuki Kihara. Photo by Zan Wimberley
Artwork by Yuki Kihara. Photo by Zan Wimberley
The exhibition also features contemporary photographs by Kihara that reference works Gauguin painted when he visited Sāmoa.
“Following on from presenting Paradise Camp to 485,079 visitors at the Venice Biennale, it’s timely to exhibit Kihara’s ensemble exhibition in Sydney with its focus on some of the most urgent issues of our times including intersectionality, small island ecologies and environmental crises,” says curator, Professor Natalie King OAM.
A companion publication has been published by Thames & Hudson, edited by Natalie King, featuring international commissions exploring the interwoven strands running through Kihara’s Paradise Camp with contributions from Coco Fusco, Patrick Flores and Ngahuia te Awekotuku.
